For the better part of the winter months, Barrett has been battling a bark. Hacking. Coughing uncontrollably. Call it what you will, I sometimes envision walking into his room, only to find a half a lung in the crib. I suppose to say it’s been going on for months may be a bit of touching up the truth but in all reality, it’s been off and on for at least 6 weeks. In the midst of two bouts of tickly prickly tonsils, pain in the ear, mucousy runny diapers, and subsequent run-ins with diaper rash, the cough has kept on kicking. Barrett’s endured a few Dek-ups {visits to the good Dr.}. They’ve tested for whooping cough, bronchitis, and cobwebs, but we generally get the same answer. Humidifier. Water. If that doesn’t work, warm water. Honey. Vapo-Rub. Prop the crib. They never call him contagious. They never fear for his set of breathers. Just a cough. Mmm hmm.
So.
Humidifier. Check. We even threw out the Frogger and spent a small piece of Barrett’s college-fund on a new supersonic, ionic, bionic, hypo-allergenic, could-save-the-world-if-it-had-a-brain, humidifier. Water. Check. Barrett loves water. He may be half camel. He’s been a great water drinker {so great in fact, he doesn’t drink juice} since he could suck a sippy. Warm water. Check. Makes me want to pee, but he doesn’t seem to mind. Plus, if it does make him pee, he’s got a diaper. Honey. Check. We’ve been doing a teaspoon of honey every night {sometimes multiple times}. Often times we do think it works. Other times, I suppose giving him something gives us peace of mind. Vapo-Rub. Check. I abhor the stench of such rubs but will put up with it if it actually cuts the cough. It doesn’t. Prop the crib. Check. B’s bed has actually been on consta-prop since he was about two weeks old and couldn’t keep his dinners down. So, that is out.
Generally, I would follow the adage my parents often recite from dear Doc Shriner {our family pediatrician}, “Give it a tincture of time”. But now … I’m calling B.S. Barrett coughing incessantly, sometimes to the point of gagging, makes me start to question why in the world I can’t give him some Dimetapp. I heart Dr. D and her colleagues and I know they’re right. But I think I’m right, too. Yep. I’m that mother that would honestly like something to knock Barrett out through the nights of colds and coughs. Then, he could sleep. Then, he could heal. I’m sure you’re curious where I studied for my MD. I’ll tell you where… at the school where I don’t sleep when my kid doesn’t sleep. The school where I know when something is just off with the little Bear. The school where I would love to not have to hear his dry, miserable huffing and puffing in the wee small hours. Especially when it’s just a cough. And let me add that I am also that mom who is thinking “I was raised on the purple power elixir, and I turned out okay…”. Because just like your little ones, Barrett is so much sweeter at dusk when he’s deep in slumber.
I’ve read the stuff. I’ve read about the question of efficacy of cold medicines for children over the age of two. We wouldn’t dare give Barrett anything before he turns the ripe old age of two. But now it seems all potions for all peds are being probed. Good grief.
About six weeks ago, I had a bout with Bronchitis. Because I’m growing Grin under boiling BP, all of the normal OTC concoctions are out for me. No Robitussin. No Mucinex. Just a 10 day antibiotic and good, old fashioned time. I’m not dense. I completely understand that Robitussin and its cohorts are not fixers but rather maskers and I am so okay with that. With those things, I can sleep through the night, work through the days and feel like a fully functioning person. Without these things, I am something akin to Kate Gosselin at 3:30 on a Wednesday…just not the best version of myself. I will admit it. I felt very sorry for myself. And while they did give me hydrocodone {yep. Can’t take OTC meds but can take narcotics. Riddle me that?}, I felt guilty druggin’ too heavily with Grin just getting going. So, I then started to feel even worse for Mr. B and his no-good-very-bad bark.
So … what suggestions do you have for your sweeties sicknesses? How do you keep from going completely cray cray through nightly nuisances? How do we quell this cough that is likely more bark than bite…
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